Let's Pretend....

For just a moment let's pretend that the Church (universally) really wants to see people's lives changed. I think that this is just a pretend scenario because all I see is a group of people who's one goal is to have Jesus work in others lives in the same manner as their own. "I am right and you are wrong, theologically speaking. The way we worship and preach is better and more spiritual then the way you worship or preach." I see the Church striving to make theological clones of themselves, "You have to walk with Jesus the way I walk with Jesus or you do not walk with Jesus." I think the thing that frustrates me most is that the Church does not accept people the way they are, but wants them to think and act like they do. GET OVER YOURSELVES!

I want to be apart of a Church where everyone is different and they don't think the same way I do. Can you imagine how great it would be to have: Democrat and Republican, Catholic and Pentecostal, old and young, and everyone in between, sit down and talk about how Jesus has changed their lives. I think that it is the differences between us that makes life interesting because Jesus has touched our lives in completely different ways. Each of us has a different testimony about the working of God in our lives and I want to hear them all.

I know that people's tastes are different when it comes to Christianity. Some want to sing hymns and some want to have a little electric guitar. Some want fire and brimstone and some want It's all good. People are at different levels spiritually, and these tastes are not a bad thing. I am not going to tell someone that they don't worship in the right way just because they worship differently then I do. They are worshipping Jesus and that is the bottom line. Now, if they are only worshipping and living life based on a Christian tradition and not a personal relationship with Jesus, I will tell them that there is a better and deeper level of relationship that they can have.

Some may say that I am arrogant to tell people that they are not living up to their spiritual potential, but that is what Jesus did to the religious leaders of His time. There is always going to be a deeper level of relationship that we can have with God through Jesus. We are never, ever going to be able to "get it all" when it comes to spirituality because we are limited (finite) in our understanding. I think that we should stop pretending that we want to have people's lives changed (if our motives are to change them into us), and start showing them Jesus in every level of their existence.